Down Syndrome Research and Practice Volume 3 Number 2 Pages 59-64

59 Introduction Since 1966 there have been reports in the literature suggesting that children with Down’s syndrome can achieve functional levels of literacy and that reading might accelerate speech and language acquisition (Duffen, 1976; Orme, Fisher & Griggs, 1966; Rhodes, Gooch, Siegelman, Behrns & Metzger, 1969; Saunders & Collins, 1972). All these authors used case study evidence to argue for the effect of reading on spoken language. For example, Duffen (1976), when describing the progress of his daughter Sarah, observed: “Sarah’s reading ability has considerably helped the development of her speech. The critical discovery was that Sarah read, remembered and later used, in the correct context, sentences that she was incapable of remembering when she just heard them.”